Screed

I started writing this blog about three years ago.  The premise was simple, I wanted to keep Marty’s friends and family apprised of her life and our journey.  But, being something of a political junkie, radical moderate and uber-user of the medical community I wanted to inflict my political prejudice on unsuspecting readers from time to time.  

As it turns out most of what has stirred me the most has been the life Marty and I have lived over our years together.  Marty really has driven most of this, it really has been a discovery process, it really has been a learning experience.  I have discovered that my biggest passion has been Marty and learning and understanding life in our new normal.  Rightfully, that passion has dictated the majority of the words.

As much as I love to debate the ebb and flow, the right and wrong, the lunacy of politics, I really haven’t focused much attention there.  With the presidential election season upon us and more and more political fodder being thrown on the television, e-mail and face book I find the siren song of politics calling me; thus the political screed has risen again.

It’s really Dean’s fault.   Dean is one of my oldest friends and is one of the nicest guys I have ever met and I love him like a brother, he is just woefully incorrect about so many things and because he sent me an e-mail the other he got me to thinking, then ranting and that can be dangerous. 

The e-mail was one of those chain things that essentially maligned the idea of being a Democrat and explained why people of that persuasion were, well, stupid ass-holes.  You know the drill, really intellectually deep and meaningful.

When I was a kid playing Little League my parents were at every game to support me.  After one game my Mother was complaining to me about how some of the fans in the stands were hollering for a batter to strike out, not for the pitcher to do well, but for the batter to fail.  It frosted her cookies that instead of cheering for the pitcher these fans focused on the batter, in effect, not hollering for their team to win, but the opposing side to lose.

My goal here is to write about why I am planning on voting for President Obama again, not why I think the other side bites.  I could list all of the reasons a President Romney, Santorum or Gingrich is a frightening thing.  I could point out all of the ways these guys are hypocritical, short sighted and disingenuous and well, a bit creepy.  But I want to avoid the tradition of trying to win by rooting for the other side to lose.

It’s really not that hard.  Do I think President Obama is perfect, not by a long shot?  Do I think President Obama has made mistakes, certainly?  Do I think he has earned another shot, yes I do.

If you remember, in the fourth quarter of 2008 the US economy was on its proverbial heals and heading south to depressionville.  The economy shrank, not by 2%, or 4% or 5%, but by 8.9% the quarter before President Obama took office.  In the month preceding his inauguration the economy shed 850,000 jobs.  The economy was teetering on the edge of economic disaster.

Today, the economy is growing and has added over three million jobs and the unemployment rate is starting to move downward.  Everyone knows we are not where we need to be, everyone should admit the economy is markedly better than when Obama took office.

I’m going to vote for President Obama because I believe, and most main stream economists agree, the actions his administration took, the stimulus (as flawed as it was), continuing the bailout of the financial sector and bailing out the automotive industry saved jobs, saved our economy and averted a worldwide depression.  It was going to be worse and by doing something, by taking action, by compromising and playing well with others the worst was avoided.

I’m going to vote for President Obama because he has restored the damaged face of the USA abroad.  According to a recent Pew poll in 2008 the positive view of the US was 31% in Germany, 42% in France and 50% in Japan.  In 2011 in was 62% in Germany, 75% in France and 85% in Japan.  There are a lot of reasons for this, some have to do with the President taking a more multi-lateral approach to things, some have to do with winding down two wars and the general inclusive approach of this President.  Our allies having a positive view of us is not a bad thing

I’m going to vote for President Obama because he did something no other politician or businessman or entrepreneur has been able to achieve.  He took huge steps in bringing health care, a chance at health care to all in this country.  Again, the Affordable Care Act is not perfect, he compromised, he relented, he pushed, he got it passed during his administration and it will bring better opportunities for health care to everyone.  It is not a government takeover of healthcare, it is a chance for more people to get insurance.

Clearly President Obama has suffered from his lack of experience and I think a certain naivety in Washington politics.  I get the distinct impression he is getting his legs under him and at this time, because of his recent experience, he is the single most qualified man for the job.  No one in the world that is eligible has any experience at being the President of the United States, just him.

The man ran on all of this stuff and the majority of the country voted for him. He said he was going to do something with health care and we voted for him, he said he would pass a stimulus bill and we voted for him, he said he would pursue Osama bin Laden and we voted for him, he said he would push alternative energy and we voted for him, he said he would push for financial reform and we voted for him.  I voted for him because he said he would do these things, I will vote for him again because he did so many of these things, I will vote for him again because I believe, as President Obama does, that the government should work for all of the people of this country.

When the country faced 9/11 the entire country, Republican and Democrat rallied around George Bush.  When Barack Obama took office the country was faced with the economic equivalent of 9/11, the worst economy in generations.  This administration had to fight, from day one, the attitude of the loyal opposition when their main priority was ensuring “this” President was a one term President.  Obama succeeded not with the help of the loyal opposition, but in spite of it.

I would challenge all of you to make a decision about who you want to support based on why you like that person, not why you hate someone else.  Quit rooting for failure, quit buying into the Kenyan, Muslim, America hating, Socialist meme, it’s just not true and I think when you repeat it, it makes you look hateful.

If you disagree with the policies, great, what is your guy going to do that is different and how are they going to do it.  Convince me they will be better, not by denigrating my guy, but by supporting your own.  

You will not convince me by posting One Big Ass Mistake America one more time on face book, that’s just stupid.  You will not change my mind by complaining about how our President didn’t salute the flag just right or how he was buddies with domestic terrorists.  Those things say nothing about what your support.

Way back in 2009 I ended my very first post with these words:  I will welcome comments -- agreeable or not, because I am confident in my ignorance. I have taken hours and done very little research to substantiate all of my thoughts and opinions, so take them for what they are worth, the ravings of a professional caregiver and sanctimonious liberal.  

Dean, I love you brother.

My Critical Skills Bite

Back in the olden days when I was gainfully employed I worked for one of the smartest people I have ever met. She was Mensa smart, she was quick, articulate, and aggressive and generally about two moves ahead of anything I ever did. Marty had exactly the same personality, so they got along very well, telling me what to do.

Helen was the kind of boss that could drive you very close to crazy and then immediately amaze you with some original solution. I could prepare a proposal for days, I could rehearse in room full of critics, I could have a 35 page, all encompassing, data backed, fact based presentation and within the first five minutes of the presentation Helen would have looked on page 28, found the only hole in my argument and nailed me. I never really developed that kind of critical eye.

I apparently lack this same eye in other important aspects of my life, like my television entertainment. Being an intellectual elitist snob I can't believe I'm admitting this, but I watch American Idol, I watch Dancing with the Stars, I watch figure skating. I know, I know, I'm ashamed, but the first step to a cure is admitting you have a problem, I have a problem. I watch this crap and make Marty watch this crap with me and we enjoy it, what can I say.

These are shows that require a certain amount of subjective judgment and some level of criticism; though I really don't get the kind of hyper criticism. I have read reviews of American Idol that excoriated the singers, the producers, the judges, and I think even me, the watcher. These reviews went on and on about how weak the performers were, how trite the performances were, and how the show has gone to the dogs. Frankly, I thought several of the performers were pretty good, certainly better than anything I could ever do. And when I watch that oddest of sports, figure skating, I almost always think the figure skaters are very good unless they fall on their, ahem, axel. I don't get the criticism.

I watched and listened to President Obama's speech on the gulf gusher last night. Frankly, what I heard was a leader telling us what was being done, what needed to be done, how it was going to be done, and when it was going to be done. What I heard was a man calling us to action to see this catastrophe as a spring board to reform our energy policy, what I heard was a man who spent the end of his speech taking about faith and how it applies to the gulf coast and how we all need faith. Again, I don't get the criticism.

All day long I have heard everything about what President Obama didn't say, what he didn't do, and how uninspiring he was. He didn't whack BP enough, he kicked them too much, he wasn't specific enough, and he wasn't emotional enough. Good god people, am I really that blind, am I really that gullible? I didn't sense any of that; I didn't feel my critical alarms go off at all wishing the President had done something different.

This catastrophe should have never happened. It's pretty clear it happened because of shoddy work, lackadaisical regulation, and penny pinching. The fact that it happened is indicative of a large problem that must be fixed, today. The idea that it can be fixed by the President is indicative of a lack of understanding of the depth of the failures which caused the gusher.

I really don’t think I’m an Obama apologist. I voted for the man and I will vote for him again unless someone I like better comes along, you know, like Sarah Palin or Newt Gingrich, yeah right. I know he has not lived up to the liberals’ dreams, I got that, he is much more of a pragmatist than that, and it’s why I voted for him. His calm, his pragmatic approach to decisions, his intelligence, his willingness to hear all sides are what make him the best leader for this time of daily catastrophe.

I simply don't get why everyone is do down on his speech or down on how he has handled the crisis. He talked about the 1500 ships working twenty four hours a day, he talked about the thousands of people already working and the thousands more being called to work. No one can make this stop immediately and to think BP or the Federal Government or the Norwegians can is just lunacy. It's screwed up and may never be the same again and it's not because this administration hasn't tried hard enough or focused enough. There is no “Brownie” working here, Admiral Thad Allen is one cool, smart dude.

Maybe all of these other people are right and I'm just too soft. I know Helen was generally right, but sometimes she didn't have all of the facts, she didn't know what she didn't know, and we were really doing the very best we could. Maybe that's what everyone is doing now, the best they can do given the intensity of the crisis; it's just not quite good enough for all of the critics and judges out there. I wish I could see that better then I wouldn’t feel so far afield.